Hundreds of aviation enthusiasts help museum celebrate its half-century

Gary Stebbing, manager of the site at Flixton, near Bungay, and his team of 15 volunteers welcomed exactly 423 guests for their celebrations.

Mr Stebbing was delighted with the turnout as on a usual public day the south Norfolk museum welcomes between 100 and 200 visitors.

The site manager said: "It was important that we celebrated the 50th birthday of this historic aviation museum.

Gary Stebbing, manager at the Norfolk and Suffolk Aviation Museum at Flixton, with the Vickers Valletta, the only remaining complete C2 variant in the world, and also the only aircraft to have flown into the museum when it was air lifted in by a Chinook helicopter (Image: Denise Bradley/Archant 2022)

"We are a volunteer-dependant and charity-ran museum, operating on a very tight budget, so we are delighted the museum has operated for this period of time.

"But that isn't enough, my hope is that the museum will continue running and exhibiting aircraft with historical merit to the East of England long beyond my lifetime."

During the day of celebrations on Sunday, September 18, it was decided by Mr Stepping and the museum's committee that they would bury a time capsule.

Mr Stepping said: "We buried a time capsule containing photos of the airfield and museum as it is now, the day's paper and written messages from myself, current chairman Steven Bell, former chairman Ian Hancock and a £5 bank note.

The Norfolk and Suffolk Aviation Museum at Flixton (Image: Denise Bradley/Archant 2022)

"It is a wonderful thought, that 50 years on from now, at the museum's 100th birthday, people will see the photos of the place now and be startled.

"To also read the paper dating Sunday, September 18, 2022 and read contemporary coverage of Her Majesty's death, as well as read messages from passionate members of the museum."

A half-dozen aviation enthusiasts in the Bungay area came up with the idea for an aviation museum, initially called the Norfolk and Suffolk Aviation Society, to preserve and promote the region's aviation history in 1972.

By 1978, the museum's name was changed to the Norfolk and Suffolk Aviation Museum, and Ken Wallis, who developed the Wallis Autogyro and built "Little Nellie" - famously flown by him when doubling as James Bond in the film You Only Live Twice - became president of the aviation museum.

The museum now proudly is only exhibiting aircraft with specific relevance to East Anglia.

Inside one of the hangars at the Norfolk and Suffolk Aviation Museum at Flixton, which also has a Naafi (Image: Denise Bradley/Archant 2022)

Mr Stebbing said: "We have aircraft here with connections to East Anglia - many of the aircraft we have here were flown from various airbases in the region.

"Airbases such as RAF Marham, RAF Colteshall, RAF Wattisham, RAF Whitham and RAF Honnington - we are proud and passionate that the region has such a profound connection with military aircraft and engineering."

The museum has a range of aircraft on display, including the Havilland Sea Vixen FAW 1, Gloster Javelin FAW 9R, McDonnell Douglas Phantom FGR 2, Percival C-Print and the Vickers Valletta C2, among many many more.

Mr Stebbing said: "The Vickers Valetta C2 is probably the centrepiece of the museum, and is most likely the only intact Valetta C2 left in the entire world.

"We are proud to offer visitors access to the inside of the Valetta C2, and there are two other planes outside which guests can go in, the Percival C-Print and the Fokker F27 Friendship.

Aircraft on display at the Norfolk and Suffolk Aviation Museum at Flixton (Image: Denise Bradley/Archant 2022)

Mr Stebbing told a remarkable story about the way in which the Vickers C2 arrived at Flixton.

"The Vickers C2, interestingly, is the only aircraft on show which was flown into the museum," he added. "The engines on either wing were taken off and the plane was dangled to the museum site by a helicopter, carrying it all the way from Norwich in 1985.

"In my honest and humble opinion, my favourite aircraft we exhibit here would be the, Hawker Hunter.

"It is a great celebration of British historical engineering - it just looks so purposeful and magnificent from every angle, so I think it is fitting that it is positioned right in front of the first hanger at the museum."

The museum will remain open to the public until the end of October on every Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday between 10am and 4pm.